7 Simmer Pots Recipes to Fill Your Home With a Customized Scent

While candles and essential oil diffusers can certainly make your house smell wonderful, there are other ways to scent your home—and you likely already have the materials in your pantry. Enter: a simmer pot.

Most commonly made from household spices, herbs, and fruits, simmer pots are essentially homemade stovetop potpourri. “Simmer pots are an excellent idea to try at home,” shares Alex Wilkens of The Spice House, a fine spice curation company. “Not only do these pots make your house smell amazing and cozy, but they also add some humidity to the air—which is great for the dry winter.”

Here’s what you need to know to make a simmer pot at home, plus some recipe and ingredient combinations to get you started.

What Are Simmer Pots?

Simmer pots are simple and inexpensive to make. They are blends of spices, herbs, fruits, and the like that, when simmered together on the stove, release a fragrance that wafts throughout your living space. Simmer pots are a quick way to make your home smell über-cozy without the need to dig out a candle or spend money on fragrance oils.

You're also in control of the ingredients in your simmer pot. You can experiment with combinations of ingredients, choosing exactly what smells delicious to you and how strong the fragrance should be.

How to Make a Simmer Pot

According to Wilkens, making a simmer pot is a quick and easy DIY project. “Simply add water to a large simmer pot along with your favorite seasonal fruits and spices,” he says.

With all of the ingredients in the pot, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat on the stovetop to medium-low. This will allow the mixture to simmer for several hours, releasing the aromas from the included fruits, spices, and fresh herbs.

Key Ingredients for Simmer Pots

Add ingredients that smell like the season to achieve the ideal simmer pot, suggests Wilkens. For a wintery combination, “We love to add cranberries, oranges, and our favorite seasonal spices,” he says. “Any whole spices work great in a simmer pot. Whole cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves are just a few of our go-to's.”

Experiment with different combinations, as the possibilities are endless in every season. Pair fresh-cut citrus and other fruits with whole spices and sprigs of herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or lavender. You can choose to use fresh ingredients, as well as leftover food. Make good use of food scraps like citrus peels, already-squeezed lemons and limes, and apple cores, along with extra fruit past its prime or items from the garden.

Simmer Pot Recipes and Ingredient Combinations

Need some recipe inspiration? Try this combination of ingredients, see what you like best, and then create your own blends.

1. Lemon and rosemary: Keep it simple with sliced lemons and sprigs of rosemary for an uplifting scent in spring or summer.
2. Thyme, grapefruit, and lemon: Bright citrus fruits are met with a touch of earthy fresh thyme—perfect for the warmer months.  
3. Mint and lime: A quick, refreshing combination for summer? Channel the flavors of a mojito with slices of lime and fresh mint leaves.
4. Grapefruit and lavender: Fresh sprigs of summertime lavender are the perfect pairing for slices of fresh grapefruit.
5. Apple, cinnamon, and clove: A classic combination for fall, reminiscent of hot apple cider.  
6. Orange, cinnamon, star anise, clove, and allspice: Plenty of spice makes for a nice, warming combination in fall or winter. Use slices of oranges and whole spices for the perfect blend.
7. Pear, pine, and rosemary: Use the trimmings from your fresh Christmas tree paired with pear slices and one or two sprigs of rosemary for a winter scent.